Conveying means for can cookers and exhausters.



PATENTED- DEG.. l?, w07.

Y M. W. @Rom ,Y y. commm MEANS 'ma mm @Gamas AND EXHAUSTERS.

APFLIUATIOH FILED PEBKZBLXBOB.

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C@ ao o. u o: se ol l( Mg PTENTED DEO. 1'7, 190'?.

4 M.A W.v GROUM. ycoNvBYING MEANS POR GAN cooKBRs AND BXHAUSTBRS.

APPLIUTION FILED PEB. Z3, 1906.

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l exhausters and `citizen of the United MARSHALL W. GROOM, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA.. I

CONVEYING MEANS FOR CAN COKERS AND EXHAUSTERS.

Speeication of Letters Patent.

PatentedDee. 17, 1907.

v Application filed February 23.1906. lSerial No. 302.521.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, MARSHALL W. GnooM, States, residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Can Cookers and Exhausters, of' which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to can cookers and particularly to the conveying means therefor. l The invention consists of the parts and the p. construction and the combination of parts as y hereinafter more lfully described and claimed,

same.

' form of carrier. I of my ap aratus. y Fie. 8 is a detail of a convveyer an "steampi e. Fig.' 9 is a transverse having reference to the accompanying drawin whiehin s, igure 1 is a plan view ota machine with l the 'cover partly broken away,

showing the invention. Fig. 2`is a section on line X-X, Fig. 1.` Fig. Sais a section 'on line Y-Y, Fig, 1. f- Fig. iis a plan viewof apreferred form of carrierl Fig. 5 is a side elevation of lFig, 6 is a plan view of a modified Fig. 7 shows a- Imodification section Online Z-lof Fig. 7.

y A represents a box of suitable length and width and built of any suitable material. It is dividedinto a plurality ofrunways 2, and there may be asrm'anyof these runways as desired or necessary, depending on the time I required for exhaustin or cooking any class 'of goods; or-any 'num the heat for any run er of boxes may be coupled up in series. l

vFor convenience of illustration I have shown a box with only. four runs. The box is inolosed, except for an ingress opening 3 for the cans atene rside adjacent to one end and an egress opening 4 on the opposite. side.

A can enteringnat 3 is taken by suitable conveying means successively through each heat admitted throu hthe perforated steam pipes 5 which extend lengthwise of the runs and beneath the conveyors. Admission of is controlled separately from beneath by suitable valves 6, whereby may be ont off or regulated to permit a variation in the duration of the exhaust period or the cooking period, withoutvarying the speed of travel of the cation is :the particular conveym will iiow down the sides of the partitions to the bottom of the box and not drip into the open cans where the device is used as an exhauster. This drip -from the condensation where boxes with flat tops areused, is both annoying and unecononncal since it causes a dilution of the syrup and results frequently in the overflow of a can and a consequent waste of syrup and sugar; besides it causes a fouling of the exhauster and conveyers and interferes seriously with the soldering of the cans, since they must be cleaned of all sugar deposits around the cap opening before the application of the flux and solder.

prefer to provide a hinged cover as 7 for the box which is corrugated lengthwise as shown, with the lowest portion of each corrugation resting on a respective partition 8 be. tween two adjacent runways. By hingingthe cover alon one edge as at 9, access fis easily had to the interior of the box at any time. there the box is of considerableh length, the cover may be made in va plurality of succeeding sections 'for convenience in ease it is desiredto get into any particular part of the box.

' The essential feature of this present applimeans by which the cans are propelled t rough the several runs. p 'l Instead of .using a separate endless chain or belt for each runway, running over sprookets on horizontal axes as has been oneheretofore, I employ one endless chain 0f fortwo runways by ruiming the chain around sprockets 11-12 on vertical axes and providing'the links of the chain with suitable lateral Vprojections or slats 13 to travel on appropriate endless tracks or guides 14 on the sides of the runways, and on which 'proj eetions or slats, the cans are supported.`

In Figs. 1 4 & 6 I have shown various oonstructions of a conveyer adapted to the same work. I

Since the runways generally lie side by side, separated by only a thin partition 8,.it is essential that the cans be capable of-turn-. ing a sharp corner at each end of a run. So

,whatever support in the nature of a slatted carrier traveling about vertical axes is pro vided for the cans, this support must adapt itself to pass around a sprocket whose radius is less than thewidthof arunway. My construction of carrier permits the use 0f a sprocket whose radius is less than half'the width of a runway.

In Fig. 6 is shown a link chain having the narrow slats or plates 13 secured crosswise to certain of the links of the chain. rlhe ends of these slats travel always in a horizontal plane on the guides 141, which latter extend down opposite sides of one runway, back along the succeeding runway and aroundl the ends of the dividing partition after the fashion of an endless trackway. These slats 13 may be in ade separate from the chain and riveted or othernf'isesecured thereto; or they may be made integral with a link as shown in Figs. 4-5. The slats are arranged at suitable intervals so as to properly support the can at all times in its travel, whether through the runway, or around the end of a partition 8. Where cans` of small diameter, of 4 inches more or less, are used, the slats must be arranged relative to each other and to the chain in such manner s o that they will not open outv too much when passing around a sprocket and so allow a can to drop through.

The perfectly straight slats of F ig. 6 are more particularly adapted for use in conveyinfT large cans or packages, and in such a case the slats would be secured close to their inner ends to the chain to enable the latter` tomake the proper bend in going around the sprocket.

It is to be understood that this construction ot conveyer is particularly designed for use where only two supporting sprockets for the chain are to be used and where the two lines of travel of the objects conveyed lie close to each other.

In Fig. 1, I have shown another form of conveyer in which the rear inner corner of each Slat is beveled to allow the inner of the slats to come close together and prevent the outer ends opening out too wide in going around a curve. This construction permits the use of slats an inch or more in width, separated not to exceed a quarter of an inch, and to travel around a sprocket not over six or eight inches in diameter.

In `Fig. 4 is shown a preferred construction of carrier in which the links of the chain consists of the underneath plates 10 and a combined upper plate and cross-Slat member 14'; the top plate having a rear'projection 14a and the two plates perforated to receive bolts or rivets 14"; said bolts or rivets being surrounded by the spacing and anti-friction rollers 14". The top plate is preferably made substantiall in the shape of a right angle triangle wit i the intermediate side of the triangle constituting the outer edge of the plate` 'lhe links of the chain are assembled and the parts proportioned'so that .vhcn in operation ythe wider outer ends of the plate will lie contiguous to each other, while the inner narrower ends of the plates permit the necessary pivotal movement of one top plate relative to another in passing drive the conveyer 1n unison. As

`ets 11.

ends.

around a sprocket at the end of either run. Pivoting the links together nearer to the inner ends of the Slat-members permits the use of smaller direction sprockets. The endless travel of a chain down one runway and up another operates to carry the cans from the point where they are received into the first runway to the point of discharge at the ad- `acent end ofthe other runway; the cans eing shifted from one conveyer to the other through the medium otl suitable means including the curved guides 15. A The advantages of going construction is that it reduces tlie usual number of conveyers by half, since each one of my conveyers operate through two-runways, and every part of the conveyor is 'capableof being in active operation, Oi'- dinarily with a conveyer mounted on sprock ets turning on horizontal axes, one-half of the conveyer is necessarily idle.-

Any suitable means may be employed to here shown, 16 represents a drive-shaft carrying the miter gears 17, which operate correspending gears on the shafts 1S of the sprock- A box of this construction is adapted for use both as an exhauster and as a cooker; the only difference is that exhaust takes place before the caps are put on the cans, and the cooking is done after the cans are capped and sealed.

By cutting off the steam from one or more of the runways1 the period of cooking can be varied without alternating the speed of the conveyers. If the cooking is to be a-short one, it maybe desired to chill the cans before a conveyer of the fore leaving thecooker, and for that reason'l may ein lo the erforated i es 19 arranged lengthwiheyin tlie runwayJ lind above the tops of thecans and "connectin the pi es with a suitable source of coolin Luid supp y, such as water or air. With tie steam out olf in any of the runways, the checkin of any further cooking .in the cans may be e `ec tually done by turning'cold Water, or admitting a blast of cold air, into the pi es 19 in those runways in which the steam as beenv cut out.

It is often very desirable that the cooking be checked immediately, since the cans retain their heat for sometime after, and if-the, `cans were allowed to go on cooking through. the remainder` of their travel, their contents would be over cooked. o

ln Fig. 7 is shown a modification of my ap paratus in Which l employ a single chain 1,0 to traverse all the runs. rlhe chain may be' of any of the aforedescribed slatted constructions; it is su )ported on an endless trackway and travels aroundlthe sprockets 11M-12 which are mounted on vertical axes at the ends of the runs. Sprockets 11" together as shown around either set of sprockets.

Having thus described my invention, what claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is` 1. The combination with s rockets mounted on vertical axes, of an en less chain passing around said sprockets and composed of pivoted links extending slet-members, said members being,t

a track-wayfor supporting said Slat-members.

2, A conveyer comprising sprockets mounted on vertical axes, a c

'd sprockets, said chain comprlsmg links having integral transversely the slats to be placed close together and to turn around the sprockets.

conveyer chain having links consisting of upper and lower spaced plates, said upper plates having integral laterally eXtendon vertical axes a cham assm around said have hereunto set presence of two subscribing wit` MARSHALL' GROOM. Witnesses:

1J. LOGAN, l

WM. MooHoDo.l

In testlmony whereof I my hand in nesses. 

